J. Warner Wallace gives excellent advice to apologists

Apologist and homicide detective J Warner Wallace has been on an incredible journey. His path to becoming one of the most sought-after modern day apologists had ups and downs, but the author of Cold-Case Christianity has reached a point in his career that he can give aspiring and practicing apologists some advice.

Essentially, he says to listen to what the Spirit is telling you. It’s not just about doing what we think is best. It’s about understanding what God wants us to do, which gifts he has given us to use on His behalf, and what direction to walk on our path through this life.

I strongly recommend reading the book and learning more about Mr. Wallace. His story is exceptional and his teachings are spot-on.

China says doctor behind gene-edited babies acted on his own

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese investigators have determined that the doctor behind the reported birth of two babies whose genes had been edited in hopes of making them resistant to the AIDS virus acted on his own and will be punished for any violations of the law, a state media report said Monday.

Investigators in the southern province of Guangdong determined Dr. He Jiankui organized and handled funding for the experiment without outside assistance in violation of national guidelines, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Along with the birth of the twins, Lulu and Nana, another embryo yet to be born reportedly resulted from He’s experiment, while five others did not result in fertilization. All three will remain under medical observation with regular visits supervised by government health departments, Xinhua said.

It didn’t say which laws He might have violated but said he had fabricated an ethical review by others.

“This behavior seriously violates ethics and the integrity of scientific research, is in serious violation of relevant national regulations and creates a pernicious influence at home and abroad,” the report said.

Then little-known, He attended an elite meeting in Berkeley, California, in 2017 where scientists and ethicists were discussing a technology that had shaken the field to its core — an emerging tool for “editing” genes, the strings of DNA that form the blueprint of life.

He embraced the tool, called CRISPR, and last year rocked an international conference with the claim that he had helped make the world’s first gene-edited babies , despite a clear scientific consensus that making genetic changes that could be passed to future generations should not be attempted at this point.

China called an immediate halt to He’s experiments following his announcement.

Gene editing for reproductive purposes is effectively banned in the U.S. and most of Europe. In China, ministerial guidelines prohibit embryo research that “violates ethical or moral principles.”

The chief of the World Health Organization said last year his agency is assembling experts to consider the health impact of gene editing.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said gene editing “cannot be just done without clear guidelines” and experts should “start from a clean sheet and check everything.”

“We have a big part of our population who say, ‘Don’t touch,’” Tedros told reporters. “We have to be very, very careful, and the working group will do that.”

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Ezekiel’s prophecy and the truth about false prophets

The topic of “false prophets” is often difficult to discuss on the internet in general and social media in particular because invariably whenever we warn of false prophets, we’re accused of being false prophets. Such is the nature of our struggle to live a faithful life and spread the Gospel. Naysayers and mockers are always there.

This topic in particular is a challenging one because it’s based upon a set of verses that some believe has been misinterpreted in most churches today. The verses in question are found in Matthew 24, verses 4 and 5.

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

The standard interpretation says that there will be people in the end times who claim to be Christ. While this is also true, as we see regularly, an alternate (and in my opinion, much more credible) interpretation is that false teachers will come in the end times in the name of Jesus Christ and will lead their flocks astray.

The argument is all in how the context is understood. Most read it as people saying, “I am Christ,” as in they’re claiming to be Christ. But what I believe he’s saying is people shall come in His name saying that He (Jesus) is Christ, and then shall deceive many. It changes the risk factor for believers because it insinuates there are those who may be leading a church today who pretend to be teaching the Gospel but are actually preaching a self-serving version of it that still claims to be a message from our Lord and Savior but is actually a great deception.

Those who have seen or even been brought into the prosperity “gospel” may have a very clear idea of what I mean.

This video goes into much more detail about prophetic events told of in both the Old and New Testament. I strongly recommend watching it, if only to make you think about what’s happening in the world around us.

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Two TEDx videos warn us to fear the coming AI overlords

Artificial intelligence is here. We’ve talked about it in the past and we won’t stop talking about it until general artificial intelligence, the true threat to humanity, is here. If and when that happens, this site will probably already have been taken down anyway.

But specialized artificial intelligence is already in play today. It’s spreading at such a rapid pace that some are calling on scientists and technology firms to pump the brakes before it goes too far, too fast. At this early stage, we don’t know what we don’t know, which is the scariest aspect of the whole topic.

TEDx, which we often sift through in order to find the rare gems, presented a pair of them tonight. They both talk about artificial intelligence, the dangers associated, and actions that must be taken to prevent it from becoming dangerous. The better of the two videos is above, but both are worth watching.

This isn’t the Haley Joel Osment movie. This is real and it’s much more worrisome than just about any technological advancement out there right now. It’s time for Americans to start paying attention so we know how to react when it reaches its tipping point.